Re:Ask HN: Do academics still use printers?
by nonrandomstring on Monday November 21, 2022 @12:38PM
(#33695399)
I suddenly see your point in the last stanza.
Why can't we share a communal printer? Good question. Especially
considering how sparse usage is compared to the 80s/90s.
My guess is a "tragedy of the commons" type snafu, with the printer
always seeming broken by someone else's job.
I actually liked going to the print room - kinda like the water
cooler where you could meet people and talk - catch a look at their
print job and strike up a conversation "Oh I see you're running
regression tests...". IIRC at UCL CS the print room was also where the
coffee pot lived.
Why can't we share a communal printer? Good question. Especially considering how sparse usage is compared to the 80s/90s.
My guess is a "tragedy of the commons" type snafu, with the printer always seeming broken by someone else's job.
I actually liked going to the print room - kinda like the water cooler where you could meet people and talk - catch a look at their print job and strike up a conversation "Oh I see you're running regression tests...". IIRC at UCL CS the print room was also where the coffee pot lived.